Late Night Talk
by iceman817
Summary: An unlikely friendship is formed over insomnia. Post Ascension. Bobby/Warren friendship. READ AND REVIEW PLEASE!


Late night talk

Warren Worthington III sighed in disgust as he opened Charles Xavier's wine cooler in the kitchen of the mansion. He understood that this was a place for kids, but if he was gracious enough to accept Xavier's offer to stay Institute, the least the old man could do was provide some quality alcohol. As he peered into the cupboards, hoping to find something other than cherry Kool-Aid, he discovered a lose board, shifted it aside, and found what he could have guessed to be Logan's beer stash. He grinned as he grabbed a Heineken and made his way to the table. He gingerly sat down, the wounds inflicted by the mind-controlled Magneto and his pet sentinel were still bothering him. He stiffened involuntarily as he heard a voice coming down the hallway.

"Jeanie?" A young male voice whispered. Almost a moment later a young brown-haired man with what Warren knew was a permanent expression of mischief came around the corner, "Oh…hey man."

Warren offered a nod to the boy, Bobby Drake. He didn't really know the kid, save for a few conversations in London. He found him to be okay for the most part, definitely loud though, which was the last thing he wanted at this moment. Drake clearly didn't notice Warren's obvious aloofness, or else didn't care, as he sat across from the older man at the table.

"How you feelin' man?" Bobby asked.

Warren shrugged, "Few bumps and bruises, but I'll heal. I was out of it for most of the fight. How'd you do?"

"Storm's tough when she's going crazy, but we came out of it ok. Berzerker, the guy with the spiky hair, got it the worst, she overloaded him." Bobby eyed Warren's beer, "You found Logan's stash?!"

"Yeah, that a big deal?" Warren asked curiously.

"Of course! We all knew he had one, everyone's busted their brains lookin' for it since day one, even Scott!" Bobby said, slightly awestruck.

Warren shrugged. Bobby seemed to hesitate before speaking again, appraised Warren, and then opened his mouth again, "Wanna get me one?"

Now it was Warren's turn to regard the young man. He couldn't be older than fifteen, Xavier would probably have his head. What the hell, they all earned it. Bobby gave a muffled cheer as Warren stood and produced him a beer. "Tell anyone and you're dead."

"Got it." Bobby grinned as he frosted his lightly, then reached across to do the same to Warren's. Warren gave an appreciative nod before taking a large gulp.

"So what're you doin' up?" Bobby asked. "Nightmares?"

"Nah. Just not used to sleeping here, it isn't my house."

"Yeah, you're some kind of crazy billionaire aren't you?"

Warren smiled. As tired as he was, he was kind of enjoying this kid, "Something like that. What about you? You were lookin' for Jean? Little old for you kid."

'No man. Jean and I both have sleeping issues, so when we're both up we come down here and talk and stuff. When I saw the light I figured it was her."

"Jean doesn't sleep well?" Warren asked curiously.

"Yeah. Her powers went haywire about a year ago, so she hears other people dreaming and it freaks her out. Usually happens about once a week."

"What about you?"

Bobby shrugged, "Just don't really sleep well. Haven't since I've been here. Lot on my mind."

Warren snorted, "Lot on your mind? You're what fifteen? Sixteen? What could you possibly be worried about?"

Bobby glared, "What does that have to do with anything. I'm a mutant who is out to the public in a society that still hates and fears us. I want to know why Xavier hasn't bumped me from the junior team to the X-men even though he always puts me on missions with them. I wonder about whether or not I want to do this my whole life or just go out and be normal."

Warren held up his hands in peace, "I see. I get it. I'm sorry."

Bobby slumped in his chair, "No, it's fine. I get that a lot. Probably part of the problem."

"What do you mean?"

"People expect me to be a certain way y'know? They want me to be the clown. I like to have fun, and make people laugh and all of that, but I want to be taken seriously. I figured after London when I saved Mr. McCoy he would get it and maybe bring it up to the Professor, but he didn't. Kurt's been talking to him for me, so has Scott, even Rogue said she'd put a good word in, but nothing's happened."

"Do they know how you feel about all this?"

Bobby shook his head, "Only Jean really. Not even the other New Recruits. I don't even know how I feel about it. I might want a life outside of all this. Some normalcy y'know?"

Warren sipped his beer, "What would you do?"

"I don't know really." Bobby shrugged, "I'm good at math. Really good. Beast put me in his remedial class with some of the others cause he figured I needed help since I'm pretty weak at science and history, I think I blew his mind when he actually figured out what I can do."

"So just math?"

"I'm pretty good with tech too. I'm no Kitty, she's a real whiz with it, but I set up most of the coding for the Institute when we rebuilt it."

"So you can do math and computers. Why not apply for an internship? Get a taste of the real world. Then you can see whether you or not you want all of this." Warren suggested.

Bobby grinned wryly, "I'm sure that would work. Who'm I gonna use as my references? Apocalypse and Bolivar Trask? I don't think too many companies are pro-mutant, and it's not like I can hide it since this is legally my place of residence."

Warren's eyes widened, "What? Why?"

Bobby shrugged, "My parents aren't mutant friendly. They found out, freaked, and turned over guardianship to the Prof. It's not like Jean and Kitty who go home to their parents over breaks and stuff, this is where I live."

Warren was at a loss for words. He thought his parents were bad, "I'm sorry," he said quietly.

"No worries man. All it means is that I don't have much of a choice between lifestyles and is probably the reason why Xavier won't bump me up. I got nowhere else to go."

Warren usually prided himself on his judgment of those around him, but here was this kid who just blew his mind. Up until now he had pegged Bobby Drake as exactly what the young man claimed everyone saw him as, a clown. The kind of kid that had so much potential in him, but didn't care enough to use it. He realized that for as loud and in your face as this kid was, no one here really knew him at all. Bobby Drake was an optimist. He faced parents who didn't want him, a mentor that didn't trust him, and friends who fit him into a box that he wanted to break out of, and he was still up beat. Warren didn't think that he ever admired someone as much as he did this fifteen year old kid.

"Why not come with me?" Warren heard himself saying.

Bobby looked up from the table, "What?"

"Come with me." Warren repeated. "I'll give you a job, you can work at Worthington Industries. I'll pay you, you can live with me in my apartment, and I'm right in the city so you can come back here when you want to."

Bobby was at a loss for words, "Wh…why?"

Warren shrugged, "Why not? I think we need each other kid. You need to experience the world and someone who isn't gonna treat you the way you're used to being treated. And trust me, you screw up, I'll chew you out over it. And I think I need a friend. I've been living alone in my apartment for the past eight years, ever since I started college. I've had enough of it. I've never had a roommate before, but I think an NYC penthouse is big enough that we won't step on each other's toes."

"You aren't gonna get sick of me?"

Warren laughed, "I probably will. But I'd be a liar if I said my people skills were up to par."

"And I could come back here whenever I wanted?"

"Provided I don't have stuff for you to be doing, if you want to come here and be a walking snowman for a while, why not?"

"Snowman? Pretty big talk bird boy." Bobby chuckled.

"That's Mr. Birdboy to you now." Warren said with a raised eyebrow.

"Ha. I still call Scott Captain Spandex. You better be payin' good money if you wanna dodge a nickname."

"I'd be careful if I were you Drake or you'll be lookin' at world's fastest loss of a job."

"Man…you DO need to improve your people skills."

Warren smiled, "Well then I guess we having something to teach each other."

Bobby grinned, "You got yourself a deal Worthington." Bobby held his hand out across the table.

Warren nodded and clasped it, "And a friend."

* * *

Just a quick little one shot based on my favorite 616 marvel friendship. All I got of it in Evolution was a two second exchange during Under lock and key. I'm trying to get back into writing, I've published a few things on the X-men page if you want to check them out as none have gotten reviews. Read and review **PLEASE**, and maybe I'll get some more going.


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